The Fiji under-16 football team suffered a heavy 1-7 defeat in their match against New Zealand at the OFC Men’s Championship in Tahiti yesterday.
Despite initially taking the lead, at the 21st minute by Veleni Rasorewa, Fiji was unable to maintain their advantage as New Zealand’s strong performance ultimately overwhelmed them.
New Zealand’s Luke Brooke-Smith scored a hat-trick, with Aaron Cartwright scoring twice, and Justin Cardozo and Benjamin Perez Balsoni adding one goal each.
Fiji’s head coach, Sunil Kumar, admitted that the game did not go as planned and acknowledged that New Zealand played exceptionally well.
He highlighted the team’s early lead and expressed disappointment over conceding “silly goals.”
“We wanted to give our all come in the game with a fight against a strong New Zealand,” said Kumar.
“We had a dream start as you know in the first 25 minutes, we were leading them and then I would say we conceded silly goals.”
“I tried my best to motivate them in the second half, but it was difficult going down 4-1.
“Mentally the boys could not take the pressure, New Zealand as a champion side did their best and really take us a tough match.”
Kumar emphasized the need for the team to regroup and focus on their upcoming match against Vanuatu.
“The dream is still alive, as we will be working on our mistakes, before we take on Vanuatu.”
The side will take on Vanuatu on Sunday at 1pm.
